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By Jeff Nagel Black Press The province’s latest liquor reform will make it easier for wine stores to relocate into grocery stores – provided they offer only B.C. wines – but there’s no sign the government is rethinking its change to wholesale wine pricing that will sharply drive up the price of more expensive bottles. Friday’s announcement by Justice Minister Suzanne Anton in Langley at Chaberton Estate Winery is being hailed by B.C. wineries because some supermarkets that...

There will be a legacy from the 2015 Canada Winter Games outside the Prince George Civic Centre, and there will also be a rather large one inside. “The Novak Legacy Wall was unveiled Friday morning in the Civic Centre lobby. The wall is in two sections, flanking the door to Auditorium 102, and is completely built of wood. “It was designed to bring wood into the Games,” says Games Society CEO Stu Ballantyne. “It was in the business plan since probably mid-2012, but it took a while to...

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Don’t you hate it when all the best lines are already taken? When you write for a living sometimes it’s hard coming up with new twists of phrase or interesting and unique ways of saying exactly the same thing without repeating yourself. Lawyers have mastered the craft. Journalists still lag far behind. So it was fascinating for me to hear Michael Warwaruk this week describe in his “storyteller” style, his life in a little B.C. town, population...

Was TJ Grewal the kingmaker? I don’t think so, at least not to the extent that the pundits were saying prior to Saturday’s Conservative party nomination in Cariboo-Prince George. Todd Doherty will be the first one to tell you Grewal’s and outgoing MP Dick Harris’ endorsements were huge. And they undoubtedly were. However, I think a lot of the 1,500 members Grewal said he had signed up when he was seeking the nomination stayed home. Here’s why. About 2,000 Conservatives showed up to...

UNBC will soon have a new vice-president academic and provost. William (Bill) Krane, who has an extensive background in post-secondary teaching, research, and administration, will start in his new position in May. “UNBC can take great pride in its reputation for delivering high quality education to its students across a diverse set of programs, and it’s this reputation that brings me to the North,” said Krane in a press release Krane. “UNBC must not only enhance its position as a major...

Monica Lamb-Yorski Williams Lake Tribune The independent engineering panel investigating the Aug. 4 Mount Polley Mine disaster has received 23 written submissions from individual citizens and interest groups. Ten days after the breach, which resulted in the release of 17 million cubic metres of water and 8 million cubic metres of tailings into Hazeltine Creek, Polley and Quesnel Lakes, the B.C. government, with support of local First Nation bands, ordered an independent engineering...

Jeff Nagel Black Press A blue ribbon panel on crime reduction has urged the province to concentrate even more on the few prolific offenders who commit most offences and expand drug addiction treatment and services for the mentally ill. Chaired by Abbotsford South MLA and criminologist Darryl Plecas, the panel appointed by Justice Minister Suzanne Anton also urges the province to appoint a senior crime fighting leader to get different agencies to work better together. The province has...